Cooking chicken breasts: How to get tender chicken every time. I want to let you in on one of my best cooking tips: how to get tender chicken every time you make it. Boneless, skinless chicken breast is a great low-calorie protein option, but it can be difficult to get right. Part of the reason is that the skin, which cocoons and flavors the chicken with its juices, is missing.
Too often, skinless chicken comes out too dry or flavorless but there’s a terrific way around this. My technique for pan-seared chicken breasts may seem basic, but it’s effortless and you can really have fun with all the flavor options. Besides, some of the greatest chefs and cooks in the world believe that simplicity in cooking yields the best results.
I’m going to give you the basic recipe and then you’ll see how easy it is to try all of the variations.
Recipe: Pan-Seared Chicken Breast
The chicken gets its flavor from being browned first, then stays moist in a covered pan over medium-low heat.
Healthy chicken recipe ingredients:
– 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, rinsed
– Salt and pepper
– Olive oil
– 45 ml / 3 T orange juice
– 5g / 1 tsp tarragon
Directions for the best healthy chicken recipe:
1. Sprinkle chicken breast halves with salt and pepper.
2. Heat a frying pan (or any other shallow pan with a lid) over medium-high heat until hot, then drizzle in a small amount of olive oil.
3. Place the chicken breasts in the hot pan and cook for 5 minutes or so, or until nicely browned on one side.
4. Turn the chicken breasts over, turn the heat down to medium-low, and add tarragon and orange juice.
5. Cover the pan and let the chicken cook until it is no longer pink — about 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken pieces.
6. When the chicken is done, remove it from the pan, and turn the heat back up to high to reduce any liquid that is left in the pan down a very small amount — there should be just enough to barely cover the bottom of the pan — and it should look like a glaze. (You may need to scrape the pan a bit.)
7. Turn the heat off, add the chicken pieces back and flip them over a few times to glaze with the pan drippings.
8. Turn onto plates and drizzle any remaining juices onto chicken.
Now comes the fun part! Easy and delicious chicken sauce variations:
Instead of adding orange juice, try any of these simple and delicious recipe variations
• Tomatoes: Once you brown the chicken on one side, flip it over, add a can of diced tomatoes (drain off the liquid first), cover and let it simmer in the tomatoes.
• Teriyaki: Flip the chicken over after it’s browned on one side, add 30 ml / a few tablespoons of water just to keep it from sticking and finish it by brushing on a little bit of teriyaki sauce or barbecue sauce when it’s done cooking.
• Orange Spice: Season with oregano, ground cumin and chili powder; use lime juice, lemon juice or orange juice for the liquid. Yum!
• International: Season with curry powder; use orange juice, balsamic vinegar or white wine/vermouth for the liquid.
• Asian-style: Season with ground ginger and garlic powder; add soy sauce and white wine, sake, chicken broth, or thin teriyaki sauce for the liquid.
• European: Sprinkle with tarragon, add a dash of mustard; use white wine for the liquid.
• Herbal: Sprinkle with rosemary or basil; use balsamic vinegar for the liquid.
This pan-seared method is a great way to keep the wonderful taste of tender chicken right where it belongs—on your plate!
Tell us how your chicken dishes came out in the comments section! For more nutrition videos from Herbalife, visit http://hrbl.me/HealthyLivingVIDEOS.
Credit: YouTube
